* Ryan goes from macro to micro: Scranton unemployment! Now counter-spin on September jobs report. And then: the five-point plan! CNN dial reaction from focus group loves five-point plan. Sad.

* Ryan uses Biden gaffe rep to dismiss 47%. Gets big laugh.

* First reference in debates to Republican obstruction in Congress. “Get out of the way” good line.

* Really hard to assess back-and-forth between Biden and Ryan on stimulus. Biden definitely not being passive, but Ryan’s responding quickly.

* Ah, entitlements! Ryan takes 20 seconds to mention his mother re Medicare. Focus group buying generational argument. Now Ryan sticking chin out on Medicare “cuts” and IPAB. But first goes on offensive on own plan, and CNN focus group likes it.

* Biden plays “who do you trust” card tying Romney and Ryan to his party’s lack of credibility on entitlements.

Ed Kilgore
is a contributing writer to the Washington Monthly. He is managing editor for The Democratic Strategist and a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute. Find him on Twitter: @ed_kilgore.

Suddenly, it's in both parties' interests to fight the broader decline of marriage. Here's the case for a "marriage opportunity" agenda. By David Blankenhorn, William Galston, Jonathan Rauch, and Barbara Dafoe Whitehead